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The Smithsonian Honors America's 250th Birthday Our Guide Is Monique M Chism · Arroe Collins Like It's Live

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  Speaker 1: The place to be is ero dot net a r
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  Speaker 1: r oe dot net. Twenty different podcasts to choose from,
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  Speaker 1: A r r oe dot net. Enjoy your exploration, Monique,
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  Speaker 1: how are you doing today?
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  Speaker 2: I'm great? How are you?
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  Speaker 1: Ooh? I love how in peace you speak. That means
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  Speaker 1: you travel history, and I love that you can hear
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  Speaker 1: it in your voice.
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  Speaker 2: Oh great, Yeah, and yours too are wonderful energy.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I'll tell you I think we have something in common.
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  Speaker 1: We both realize that in order to get where we
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  Speaker 1: are today, we have a past. But what are we
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  Speaker 1: gonna do with the remnants of that past but to
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  Speaker 1: build a future? And is that not what our shared
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  Speaker 1: future two fifty is all about?
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely couldn't. I couldn't have said it better. We're actually
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  Speaker 2: celebrating the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the signing
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  Speaker 2: of the Declaration of Independence, and the Smithsonian has chose
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  Speaker 2: to kind of do that by looking at history but
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  Speaker 2: also thinking about the present and focusing on the future.
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  Speaker 1: Does that present include that guy named AI technology, Because
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  Speaker 1: I mean, that is such a present place in our now,
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  Speaker 1: and I don't think that people up there in twenty
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  Speaker 1: fifty are going to understand how we kind of struggled
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  Speaker 1: with it today.
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  Speaker 2: That's such an interesting point. Yes, I think we're in
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  Speaker 2: the we're in the messy part of trying to figure
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  Speaker 2: it out, but I'm sure that we'll figure it out.
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  Speaker 2: And we are using technology to help reach different audiences
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  Speaker 2: across the nation, So not only the traditional things through
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  Speaker 2: our website, but we're also creating some kind of augmented
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  Speaker 2: reality experiences. I'd love to tell you about one that's
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  Speaker 2: launching this week.
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  Speaker 1: Please please.
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  Speaker 2: Our new museum, the Smithsonian American Women's History Museum, has
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  Speaker 2: started this really wonderful project. It's called un Hidden Heroines,
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  Speaker 2: and it actually launches tomorrow, Thursday, June eighteenth. And what
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  Speaker 2: you can actually do is you can take your cell
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  Speaker 2: phone and you can direct it at one of our
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  Speaker 2: national monuments like the White House or the Lincoln Memorial
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  Speaker 2: or the Washington Monument, and what you will get is
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  Speaker 2: an augmented reality experience that talks about the women who
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  Speaker 2: were a significant part of that historical moment, but often
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  Speaker 2: their stories were not shared or told. And so there's
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  Speaker 2: also going to be an online way that people can
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  Speaker 2: access the information, but we're trying to keep up with
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  Speaker 2: technology and use technology also.
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  Speaker 1: So yeah, I'm so proud of you for doing this
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  Speaker 1: because I'm the guy that you know, we're going up
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  Speaker 1: on the twenty fifth anniversary also of nine to eleven,
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  Speaker 1: and I still, inside my heart have not heard the
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  Speaker 1: stories of the women that were involved with that. So
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  Speaker 1: the fact that you are taking this step forward to
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  Speaker 1: share the story of the women that's what's missing from
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  Speaker 1: history today. And you, you guys at Smithsonian, you're doing it.
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  Speaker 1: You're finally stepping into that role of saying, by the way,
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  Speaker 1: there's something you should know, and I think you're really
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  Speaker 1: going to grow from it.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, absolutely, that's our goal. Our goal is to make
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  Speaker 2: sure that everyone sees themselves in the work that we do,
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  Speaker 2: so there's a connection and hopefully a curiosity to learn more.
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  Speaker 1: You know, you just you just gave me this vision
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  Speaker 1: because if we do see the photographs of those that
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  Speaker 1: have lived the past, that have done something that's very
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  Speaker 1: heroic if they were even just a participant with something
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  Speaker 1: that took place. Looking into the eyes, do you recognize
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  Speaker 1: those eyes? They really could be the shape of yours
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  Speaker 1: and you're a part of it.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. We we have a number of different ways that
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  Speaker 2: we like to use what we are objects, our collection.
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  Speaker 2: I'm not a person who's like you know me personally,
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  Speaker 2: I'm not kind of driven by the things that I
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  Speaker 2: own or possess. But at the Smithsonian, our objects really
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  Speaker 2: do help to tell the American story. And so we
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  Speaker 2: wonderful exhibit that's opening and what's iconically known as our Castle,
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  Speaker 2: the Smithsonian Castle. It was co curated by our secretary
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  Speaker 2: Lonnie Bunch, and it's called American Aspirations. And in this
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  Speaker 2: exhibit you'll get to see things like the desk that
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  Speaker 2: Thomas Jefferson used to draft a Declaration of Independence. So
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  Speaker 2: that's how we like to use the objects to help
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  Speaker 2: tell the nation's story.
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  Speaker 1: Hey, please don't move. We're just getting started with Monique
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  Speaker 1: from the Smithsonian Institute. We are celebrating two hundred and
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  Speaker 1: fifty years of this great nation and beyond. We are
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  Speaker 1: back with Monique. Im Chisholm, I'm a daily writer a
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  Speaker 1: writing instrument to me is a tool. It is not
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  Speaker 1: a pin. And so to hear about this desk, of course,
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  Speaker 1: I would love to just even be in its presence
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  Speaker 1: to find out if I could feel something. I can't
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  Speaker 1: be the only one, the only writer that can experience
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  Speaker 1: something like this, because if something you guys have put
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  Speaker 1: on display, you give us the past so that we
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  Speaker 1: can grow into the future.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely absolutely think about the present, and I also grow
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  Speaker 2: into the future. And you know, this desk is really
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  Speaker 2: I would I would before I saw it, I would
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  Speaker 2: have guessed that it was like a huge mahogany you
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  Speaker 2: know with desk, but it's very It's a lap desk.
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  Speaker 2: It just sits right on your lap. And he designed
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  Speaker 2: it himself and he built it, and it's really wonderful
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  Speaker 2: to think about what it represents and what it means.
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  Speaker 1: Oh my god, just right here in front of me
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  Speaker 1: is one of those desks as well. But it was
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  Speaker 1: with the captain of a ship in nineteen twenty six.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, I totally get where you're coming from on this,
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  Speaker 1: because there's something about that lap desk. You can feel
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  Speaker 1: the energy and the presence and the thing is that
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  Speaker 1: that that is that that man wrote a letter and
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  Speaker 1: it was basically a dear future reader letter. This, by
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  Speaker 1: the way, was my desk, and I can't imagine what
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  Speaker 1: Thomas would be thinking if if everybody saw his desk.
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  Speaker 2: Right exactly. You know, we've also, you know, we know
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  Speaker 2: that everyone can't get to d C yeah to kind
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  Speaker 2: of go through the museums and have that experience. So
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  Speaker 2: we've actually worked really hard to create a way that
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  Speaker 2: people can access to Smithsonian online. It's called my Smithsonian,
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  Speaker 2: and you can really think of it as a way
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  Speaker 2: to kind of curate your own experience. If you're interested
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  Speaker 2: in space, you could do that. If you're interested in
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  Speaker 2: science or art, and you can access that through my
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  Speaker 2: dot SI dot edu.
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  Speaker 1: What's really fascinating about this is that I've been sitting
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  Speaker 1: here going I was there in nineteen seventy six, where's
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  Speaker 1: the freedom train? Where's the freedom train? And then when
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  Speaker 1: I found out what you guys were doing at Smithsonian,
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  Speaker 1: I'm going, this is the new age freedom train. You
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  Speaker 1: are bringing science and history to us and we don't
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  Speaker 1: have to go stand in line and wait for the
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  Speaker 1: train to come in. You are really forging the future
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  Speaker 1: forward with this project.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, that's a perfect way to describe it, where we're
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  Speaker 2: really bringing the information directly to your living room, to
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  Speaker 2: your classroom, to your home so that you can also
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  Speaker 2: experience it.
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  Speaker 1: What are you personally getting out of this, because I mean,
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  Speaker 1: you are so close to everything that's going on and
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  Speaker 1: it's like right there in front of your eyes and
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  Speaker 1: we're living vicariously through you today.
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  Speaker 2: That's a great question. That's a great question, Eric, Thank
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  Speaker 2: you for that. You know, I am actually very sentimental
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  Speaker 2: and emotional right now during this two hundred and fifty
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  Speaker 2: of the anniversary. I think it's a time to really
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  Speaker 2: reflect on what our democracy means, the importance of preserving
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  Speaker 2: that democracy, and what it really takes to be a committed,
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  Speaker 2: civic engaged person to really support and to preserve that democracy.
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  Speaker 2: And so I feel very fortunate to serve as the
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  Speaker 2: Undersecretary of Education at the Smithsonian at this point in
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  Speaker 2: time because it really gives me an opportunity to really
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  Speaker 2: to prioritize civic education and to reach students across the
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  Speaker 2: nation and to really important conversations and opportunities for learning
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  Speaker 2: at a point that I think is really critical for
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  Speaker 2: our nation.
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  Speaker 1: Is it too late for people to give up their time,
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  Speaker 1: in other words, to donate their time to volunteer to
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  Speaker 1: be because this has going to last longer than July fourth,
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  Speaker 1: twenty twenty six. This has got to grow beyond this,
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  Speaker 1: and I think that's what the Smithsonian is all about.
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  Speaker 1: It ain't about just now, it's about everything forward.
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  Speaker 2: That's right. So this especially, we're actually celebrating all year.
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  Speaker 2: So please join us if you can at any point.
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  Speaker 2: But yes, the Smithsonian is committed to doing this well
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  Speaker 2: past the two hundred and fiftyth anniversary, and we're always
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  Speaker 2: looking for volunteers. Good So if you want to volunteer,
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  Speaker 2: please visit SI dot adu. There's tons of ways to
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  Speaker 2: connect and volunteer.
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  Speaker 1: Wow, please come back to this show anytime in the
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  Speaker 1: future because I want to continue this story. I want
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  Speaker 1: to be a part of as you guys grow forward
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  Speaker 1: and reach that new generation.
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  Speaker 2: Well, thank you and thank you for the opportunity to talk.
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  Speaker 1: Will you be brilliant today? Okay, thanks you too. Thank
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  Speaker 1: you